Justin Bieber and other rants

I know this is going to sound like so many sour grapes -- and perhaps it is -- but it seems there is a certain injustice in the universe when there are so many talented, struggling unpublished authors in the world and someone like Justin Bieber can get a book contract for an autobiography.

I was in the bookstore last weekend and saw FIRST STEP 2 FOREVER: MY STORY by Justin Bieber. What in the world can this 16-year-old boy, whom no one had heard of two years ago, say would be interesting enough to pay good money to buy, let alone to read? He has no life experience. He's had no great struggles since he was a child. He was a healthy middle-class kid growing up in suburbia in Canada.

It looks a lot like a picture book for the pre-teen set but I know several young adult authors with far more to offer that age group than what they will get from Bieber. Fortunately, two of them are getting published next year but neither will get nearly the sort of publicity granted to Justin Bieber.

What I think is worse for Bieber, who apparently has a nail polish line coming as well as a unisex fragrance, is that it seems as if some marketing guru is trying to turn a boy, who already has lots of effeminate characteristics, into a girl. He could be messed up for the rest of his life as in private moments, which could be few, he struggles to understand who he is. He could end up like poor Michael Jackson.

That saddens me but it isn't the point I am trying to make at the moment.

I love it when a debut author breaks through because it provides hope for the rest of us. But it seems that when some celebrity, such as Bieber or with novels by Nicole Richie, comes out of nowhere and gets a contract, there is a little less space for the rest of us. I have an online friend who was published this year (and it was a wonderful book) and he footed the bill for his own book tour. It was worth it to him and I support that. But I'm sure Justin Bieber doesn't have to foot the bill for his publicity, tours or book signings.

It just doesn't seem right.

So there is my rant.

I truly don't wish young Justin Bieber ill-will in any way. I just wish there was a little more equity in the universe.

Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. Don't let the injustice silence your voice.